College Hoops can't come soon enough

I think the NBA starts today. I could be wrong. Whatever. The days of me as a young boy watching the Bulls in my black MJ jersey with matching shorts with my dad are over. The cool thing about Jordanis how no one remembers how great of a defender he was. That probably just had to do with how competitive he felt he needed to be in his drive to become the greatest basketball player ever. I'd say he did enough to do that.

And that's what the NBA is missing nowadays. Really, the most competitive guys in the NBA are the officials. They're competitive in gambling, see Tim Donaghy. They're apparently pretty competitive as a union, too. Hey, maybe the scab refs will be competitive enough to land themselves a job when the strike is over.

My point is, the players don't care. And nor should they. They're rich. I probably wouldn't either. But since I'm a fan, I do care. Watching Kobe Bryant spot up, then hesitate, then spot up, then fake a pass, then take a stupid shot, is really just pissing me off. Even better, how about guys taking six steps without being called for traveling?

The point I'm trying to make is that I'm sick of the NBA. It's lack of effort is now 100% apparent and its even shown throughout the crowd. The best shot they can get at games is of whatever celebrity got free courtside tickets for the night. Come on. Give me a die hard fan for God's sake. Someone who spent his rent money on nosebleeds just to see his team lose.

This is why I'm completely converted to college basketball.

I went down to my first University of Washington basketball game in February to watch them beat the living hell out of Oregon. It was a complete blowout but the crowd was still nuts. Most of the student section had brought with them rolls of toilet paper to recognize Oregon's best player, Tajuan Porter's initials. They turn around when the opposing team's starting lineup is being introduced, yelling out WHO CARES after each name.

And above all else, the kids work their tales off. Aside from some of the one-and-doners, see O.J Mayo, their unselfish and are playing for a future job.

And now that I know enough about the national landscape of college hoops, I'm set to give anybody who might read this, a team to cheer for and a team to hate from each major conference. Let's kick it off with the hometown Pac-10.

Pac-10

Like 'em: Washington

This is an obvious one. Their the closest to Vancouver, and it's about a three hour drive to get there. The campus is beautiful and so are the women that sleep there. From a basketball point of view, they have a relatively long standing head coach in Lorenzo Romar, who is also insanely respected. The ovation he got at the Huskies football game against LSU was crazy. The Huskies also hold claim to a top five backcourt with Isaiah Thomas, freshman Abdul Gaddy, and defensive specialist Venoy Overton. This team will be one of the most exciting teams in the country to watch. I feel bad for easterners who won't get to see them play until they hit the Sweet 16.

Hate 'em: Arizona

We all know this history of the Arizona basketball program. Twenty five straight NCAA Tournament appearances is a record. I think. But everyone knows the only reason they got in last year was because of that history. They didn't deserve to be in there, even though they had about four future NBAers on their roster. UW fans, at least, can be a fan of Arizona's last coach, Lute Olsen. Had it not been for him quitting, the Huskies wouldn't have the freshman phenom Gaddy quarterbacking the offense for them.

More to come.